Cold-working process for articles



Oct. 1, 1957 L. P. GARNER ETAL 2,807,971

cono-WORKING PROCESS FOR ATIcLEs original Filed March 31. 1948 s sheets-sheet 1 Z o 27 l ,4 /f f 25 z; l; f4

nvenior Oct. 1, 1957 L. P. GAR-NER Erm.

COLD-WORKING PROCESS FOR ARTICLES Original Filed March 31, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 M'lz'azzz N Parker Ofi/fm Gttorneg 0d l, 1957 L. P. GARNI-:R ETAL 2,807,971

COLD-WORKING PROCESS FOR ARTICLES Original Filed March 31. 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ff i , .g/ (O O i] t f7 j; F17? o C j! ,"2"NT mmv /6 f :inventor L20 d R Garner Mil/im NParJfef Cttomeg United States Patent() M COLD-WORKING PRoCEss FOR ARTICLES Lloyd P. Garner and William N. Parker, Lancaster, Pa.,

assignors to Radio Corporation of America, a corporaytion of Delaware Original application March 31, 1948, Serial No. 18,114, now Patent No. 2,610,304, dated September 9, 1952. Divided and this application February 5, 1952, Serial No. 270,095

This invention relates to the cold-working of ductile materials-into a body or geometric shape having a foillike thickness, and particularly to the production of a work piece, and articles made therefrom, having a crosssectional area s'o thin that present methods of cold-working metals are impractical of application. To obtain Vsuch a result, the present invention contemplates a basic process and suitable apparatus for carrying out the process. Although the process, per se, has fundamental concepts, the apparatus may vary as to design in order to produce a desired end product, which in itself may have lcharacteristic features depending upon the use to which the product may be applied.

This application is a division of our copending application Serial No. 18,114, tiled March 3l, 1948, now Patent No. 2,610,304, dated September 9, 1952, in which the claims are drawn to articles which may be made by the process according to the present invention.

As is well understood by those skilled in the prior art, cold-working of metals takes place at temperatures below -the recrystallization temperature of the metal and requires stresses beyond the elastic limit in order to secure the desired permanent plastic deformations. With common metals the necessary stresses are of considerable magnitude and may be of the order of one hundred thousand pounds per square inch, so that even for parts of relatively small area enormous total pressures are required if the whole area of the work blank is cold-worked simultaneously.

Typical examples of such cold-working processes are axial rolling, extrusion, spinning, and the like. Each of these processes is inherently objectionable when the ductile materials are to be reduced to very thin dimensions by cold-working. In the case of extrusion or axial rolling processes, the pressures required for plastic deformation of the work material are extremely high.

The comparatively small reduction in thickness of the blank in the case of axial rolling accomplished by a single pass of the material through the rolling apparatus is such that a number of passes therethrough is necessary to obtain the desired ultimate thickness. Furthermore, rolling equipment becomes very massive where high pressures are required. In order to avoid the necessity of high pressures the use of small diameter rolls have been `resorted to, butto prevent serious bending of the rolls it is necessary to support each of the two working rolls by two auxiliary rollers. These in turn are supported by 'another .group of auxiliary rollers, and so on until sutiicient rigidity is secured. The structure of such a cluster mill requires'considerable costly development, and the amount `of reduction in thickness per pass through the rolls is limited by the driving torque available. Since all the driving torque must be transmitted through a small diameter roll, the available torque is small. As a result, a great many passes are usually required to produce the thin metal foil required. Since each work pass hardens the material, frequent annealing operations are required, and the whole process becomestedious, and the results gen- 2,8ti7,971l Patented Oct. 1, 1957 ICC erally unsatisfactory. Also, a rolling mill is unsuited to the forming of parts where only a predetermined portion is to be reduced in thickness.

By extrusion methods commonly used hydraulic pressure is built up simultaneously in the entire volume of metal which is being extruded. Not only must the total applied forces be large, but large strong tools must be used to constrain the metal like a fluid in a cylinder. The result is that aside from using great pressures, which complicates the equipment, prior art methods are thus unsuitable at practicing our method.

In spinning, a moderately thin metal blank is rotated against a round nosed tool or roller which is manipulated to force the metal against a form or mandrel which rotates with the work. Only a slight reduction in thickness takes place each time the tool is passed over the work. The attainment of very thin wall thicknesses by repeated spinning is diflicult for two reasons: First, the spinning of the metal causes considerable work hardening so that annealing is required after a relatively small reduction in thickness. Repeated heating and handling of delicate parts is apt to be disastrous. Secondly, as the material becomes very thin, it can not transmit the forces required by the spinning process and serious buckling and/or fracture results.k This is primarily due to the fact that, in reducing thickness by spinning, the tool is ordinarily moved toward unworked material and away from the driving force. In this way the thin work hardened metal must transmit the necessary driving forces, which necessarily must be limited by the strength of the thin material.

It will thus be seen that there does not exist in the prior art a suitable method of mechanically accomplishing by cold-working of ductile metals great reductions in thickness without the use of large driving forces, massive machinery, and/or frequent annealing, especially when foil-like thicknesses are required.

The present invention eliminates or largely overcomes the above-mentioned difficulties, as well as others, in that the source of these difficulties is removed by a novel method of cold-working metals and apparatus for carrying out the method. The novel method, which we call an extrusion-scanning process, differentiates basically from conventional extrusion methods of the prior art in that it involves what we choose to call a scanning feature in which the work piece or blank is scanned in repetitive cycles by one or more tools, and the design of the apparatus is such as to utilize this feature in greatly reducing the thickness of a work blank, which may, for example, comprise a length of tubing the wall of which is greatly reduced by a single pass of the tubing through the apparatus. The tubing itself may be so manipulated in its passage through the extrusion-scanning apparatus as to provide a part or shape, which may be a very thin-walled cylindrical tube capable of use as such or further fabricated into an electrode, such as a grid, useful in electron discharge and other devices, which part has greatly enhanced electronic, mechanical, thermal and/or electrical properties and is capable of economical mass production.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a novel cold-working method which is characterized by scanning as an important feature in the method.

Another object is the provision of apparatus for practicing the method which permits the utilization of the scanning feature, whereby the cold-working operation is materially different from conventional extrusion methods.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a cold-working method which contemplates the use of a roller system, or its equivalent, that applies pressure localized with respect to a given volume of the Work blank, thus allowing the use of relatively `small driving forces.

A special object of the invention is the provision of a method and apparatus by virtue of which great reduction in the thickness of a work blank may be obtained by a single pass of the work. This novel result is effected when an appropriately shaped roller or similar tool is forcibly scanned in repetitive cycles over the work blank.

Another object of the invention is the provision of an apparatus which permits the feeding of the work toward `the extrusion-scanning tool in such a manner that the necessary forces are transmitted through the thick unworked material, and onlyV a small portion of the material is reduced in thickness at a time.

A further object is the provision of a scanning feature, forming part of our extrusion-scanning process, which is carried out by application of new principles where the material acted upon at one time is only a local volume or region in the work blank and the geometric shape of said volume is asymmetrical.

Another important object of the invention is the provision of a form of cold-working process in which there are three component forces coordinated in such a manner that only a local geometric volume of the work is scanned by the tool and the scanning sequence completes itself in a single passage through the material to be worked.

Other objects, advantages and results of the invention will manifest themselves from a reading of the following description in connection with the accompanying drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of one form of apparatus for carrying out the invention;

Figure 2 is a section taken on lines 2-2 of Figure l;

Figure 3 is an enlarged cross-section taken through the axis of a cylindrical mandrel and a tubular work piece, showing the wall thinning operation;

Figure 4 is an elevation of an elongated tubular workpiece along which the thinning operation has been re peated several times;

Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view of a cathode structure utilizing one of the thinned end products as a support for the cathode;

Figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating one phase of the invention;

Figure 7 is an enlarged elevation, partly in section, and similar to Figure 3, showing details of processing a work. piece according to the invention;`

Figure 8 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-section, on lines 8 8 of Figure 7, showing the extrusion-scanning region or volume incompletely bounded in configuration;

Figure 9 is a schematic illustration showing the helical path defined in one form of practicing the invention;

Figure l0 is a sectional view showing the flow of the work under excessive back pressure by the working tool having a peripheral bead and an adjacent flat surface;

Figure 11 is a view similar to` Figure 10, except that the working tool has only a bead in forcible contact with the work;

Figure 12 is a sectional view of another form of the working tool which is provided with a rotatable rounded nose portion; and

Figure 13 is a section, partly schematic, of a modified form of apparatus contemplated by the invention, wherein a reciprocating motion is substituted for a principal rotary motion employed in the apparatus of Figure l.

The present invention, described in its elemental concepts, is directed to an extrusion-scanning method of cold- Working materials, and apparatus for practicing the same, whereby the thickness of a work blank, such as a piece of malleable tubing, may be greatly reduced in thickness in a single pass of the blank through the apparatus. The novel method constitutes a combination of extrusion and scanning in which that portion of the work blank undergoing deformation has the coordinated components or forces -applied at any instant to Ia relatively limited geometric volume of the work. g

The meaning of the term"scanning as applied to our extrusion-scanning process will be hereinafter defined, as Well as certain other terms which we may employ in a somewhat unconventional manner, but the intended meaning will be obvious and fully supported by the description of the invention taken in connection with the drawings.

In a preferred manner of practicing the invention, a piece of tubing may be placed on a smooth cylindrical mandrel, which provides a hard backing surface, and the sheathed mandrel is passed through a system of rollers. The arrangement, design and manipulation of the rollers comprising this system are adjustable with respect to the work, but the rollers are adapted to be kept at a fixed radial separation from the mandrel which determines the ultimate final thickness of the completed tube. One end of the tube is constrained and tixedly secured to the mandrel and the other end is free to move axially thereof. As the tube is reduced in thickness the heavy or thick-walled portion is used to force the thinned wall portion through and beyond the rollers. Means are provided for radially `adjusting the rollers relative to the axis of the mandrel and simultaneously applying localized pressure through the rollers perpendicular to each successive portion or region of the tubing being worked in its advance through the roller system. Each roller is provided with a bead of small radius relative to the diameter of the roller. This construction permits relatively small applied total forces to accomplish great reduction in wall thickness of the tubing by virtue of the redistributing and intensifying action of small mutual contact areas between the work part and the roller beads.

As explained hereinafter, an extrusion-scanning aperture is formed at each roller as it is brought into contact with the opposing surface of the rotating tubular work blank.

A driving force is applied to the tubing in a direction parallel to the axisof rotation and towards the extrusionscanning aperture. This force provides the axial cornponent required in the execution of our extrusion-scanning process as applied in the present embodiment of the invention.

By adjusting the rollers, changing the surface of the mandrel, and similar expedients, a variation in the end products may be obtained. For example, by forming depressions in the outer surface of the mandrel and applying a force in a radial direction to the work material, there can be produced a flow of metal into the depres sions formed in the mandrel, thus providing thicker longitudinal sections corresponding to the contour of the mandrel depressinons. Such a modification is disclosed in a copeuding application filed by William N. Parker, Serial No. 84,406, filed March 30, 1949, now Patent No. 2,565,623, dated August 28, 1951, relating to a grid structure and the like. However, in the present application a smooth mandrel is used, and the resulting product may be an electrode element hereinafter described more spe ciiically.

The process herein disclosd contemplates, and the apparatus illustrated for practicing the same provides means for imparting three principal forces to the work through the portion thereof to be worked: one rotating the tube; another moving the tube parallel to the axis of the supporting mandrel; and the third applying pressure perpendicular to the surface of the work.

The invention may be said to embody three characteristic or outstanding features: (l) the process is a form of extrusion embodying at least two scanning motions: (2) only a local asymmetrical geometric volume of material is Worked at a time; and (3) the extrusion is completed in a single passage of the material undergoing processing. This arrangement avoids objectionable stresses and strains which are encountered in axial rolling, spinning, drawing, and similar metal working operations employed heretofore.

As a preliminary to the disclosure of our invention, the theory and/ or technique involved may be explained by again referring tothe prior art relating to general extrusion processes commonly practiced, and then proceeding to describe in what respect our method differs therefrom.

The well-known basic extrusion principle involves placing a piece or quantity of ductile material in some form of a constraining device so that a piston acting in response to a force sets up a compression throughout the material sufficient to cause plastic ow thereof through an orifice or die having a contour in cross sectional area substantially identical with that of the desired extruded product. As pointed out above, to extrude the metal a large hydraulic pressure is created in the entire volume of the metal, with attendant difficulties caused thereby.

To avoid these difficulties, we propose to use a means whereby hydrostatic pressure sufficient for extrusion is limited to a comparatively restricted geometric volume of the material being processed. This difference in principle is possible by producing a scanning effect accomplished by employing an apparatus including a roller system responsive to co-ordinated forces as more fully described hereinafter. Suffice it to say at this point, that each of the rollers constitutes part of an effective extrusion-scanning aperture, and by having one end of the work blank free to move axially of a supporting member,

such as a mandrel, the reduced or thinned portion of the work flows freely longitudinally of the mandrel and in the same direction as the motion of the unworked portion of the blank which is moved axially toward the rollers by the driving source.

The localization of the working forces to a restricted volume is a distinguishing characteristic of our invention over prior art extrusion methods, and makes the application of our extrusion-scanning method practical in reducing the wall thickness of the work blank to .001 of an inch or less. easily be reduced at least to one-thirtieth of the original thickness of the blank, the reduction being accomplished in a single pass of the blank through the apparatus.

Although the main steps in our extrusion-scanning process remain the same, variations in the apparatus for carrying out the process may occur in the production of different end products. The degree of variation in apparatus will depend upon the nature of the end product, and several of such modifications resulting from practising the basis process herein disclosed constitute the basis for separate applications. However, for illustrative purposes, the invention will be described inconnection with one form of apparatus suitable for practicing the invention in its entirety.

For a more complete understanding of our invention it is deemed advisable that certain terms employed by us be presently defined so that the significance thereof will give a better appreciation of our invention as the description proceeds.

In referring to our invention as contemplating an extrusion scanning process, we wish it to be understood as connoting a plastic fiow produced by progressive local extrusion along a scanning path traversed by an asymmetrical geometric volume of the Work blank continuously passing axially through an extrusion-scanning aperture while said geometric volume is restrained on all sides except that of the aperture, which treatment effects the scanning in a continuous point-to-point manner around the scanning path through redirecting and intensifying lower actuating component forces which forces are coordinated but capable of independent action, and preferably completing the scanning in a single passage of the work blank through the aperture. It may be noted that the scanning takes place in the Work undergoing processing as it is subjected to a rotational and/ or transverse movement relative between the work material and tool, with the result that the movement of the work is in an orderly path, which path must be resolvable into at least .two correlated and mutually perpendicular directional components, for example, longitudinal and trans- Furthermore, the thickness may 6 verse, .circumferential and radial, or circumferential -and axial. In other words, the components of the treatment are of Ytwo dimensions or directions and become effective in adjacent or continuous sequences.

The term aperture as used herein with respect to our extrusion-scanning method may be defined generally as constituting an incompletely bounded opening which continuously scans through the work in a regular, smooth, overlapping and non-repeating path. In this respect our extrusion-scanning aperture does not have a closed surface contour which may be characterized as a visually identifiable static entity, such as the die aperture used in conventional forms of extrusion wherein the opening or vspace is bounded by a continuous surface or surfaces sensually perceivable. Rather, it will be appreciated that the term extrusion-scanning aperture as used herein does not refer to, or identify, a simple coexistent physical entity or bounded surface with obvious shape and dimension, but as constituting a shape determined by the elements which are functionally related to effectively form an extrusion opening through which the rextruded portion of the work blank is being forced at any instant during the extrusion process. It may therefore be regarded as consisting of several effective constraining boundaries which include the backing surface or mandrel, a work contacting surface, such as a roller or other tool, and the adjacent portions of the work itself.

We apply the term repetitive cycles to the successive cycles of motion of a point on the work piece relative to the roller or other tool.

In our use of the term integral we have in mind particularly a structure composed of a single piece of material which may be lgiven various shapes but all of such shapes forming a single body free of joints.

Referring to the drawings, particularly Figures l to 3, apparatus for practicing the invention may comprise Ya machine tool similar toa drill press. Since these tools are well known, only the parts essential to an understanding of the invention are shown. A rotating shaft 32 is carried by a sleeve 3 which is movable up and down by operation of a handle 2 by means of a gear 4 and a rack 37. A mandrel 5 has closely fitting bearings 10 in a yoke 6 which is in turn attached to a base 7. The base 7 in turn rests on a drill press table 8 which is connected mechanically to the upper part of the press. The base 7 supports the tube reducing device having an 4auxiliary frame 9 loosely fitting within the yoke 6. The closely fitting bearings 10 and yoke 6 serve to keep the mandrel 5 running true about its axis and substantially perpendicular to the upper surface of the base 7. The frame 9 carries non-adjustable rollers 11 and 12, and adjustable roller 13 mounted in slide block 14 slidable within frame 9 toward and away from rollers 11 and 12 (see Figure 2).

That is to say, the rollers 11 and 12 although rotatable are of a stationary axis type, i. e., non-adjustable relative to each other, being mounted in the outer frame 9, while the roller 13 is mounted on the slide 14, and hence, is adjustable with respect to the other rollers. For the present illustration of the invention, the rollers 11, 12 and 13 may be l inch in diameter with half-round bead or ridge 15 having a radius of .062 inch. This radius is not critical but there is usually -an optimum for a given combination of work metal, or thickness, and the amount of reduction desired. A general ratio of bead radius to original wall thickness of Work blank may vary betweeny .l and 10 depending on the original wall thickness, the material and the results desired. It is also to be understood that a wide variety lof shaped and/or cross-sections of rollers may be employed.

The auxiliary frame, consisting of elements 9, 14, 33, 34, 35, 36 and rollers 11, 12 and 13, is free to slide on the base 7 so as to automatically center the rollers about the work piece or tubing, referred to generally by the numeral 1, and the mandrel 5. While the use of three rollers is preferred on account of the inherent automatic centering feature it is to be understood that any number of rollers may be used in a suitable holding construction.

Certain of the parts just described are shown more clearly in Figure 3, wherein the work part 1 having a thinned wall section 17 and an end section 16, which may be closed at one end, is fitted over the mandrel 5. The end section 16 need not be a part of the tube 1 in order to practice the invention in its elemental form, that is, by extrusion-scanning, but for purposes of illustration it is shown for reasons that will be obvious hereinafter. The `wall thickness of the metal tube 1 is reduced by the simultaneous application of axial pressure along the lines 18 and 19 (see arrows of Figure 3) and radial pressure 20, while the tube is being rotated under the rollers. The mandrel serves to back up the inner surface of the tube 1 in the region opposite the rollers, and to transmit the necessary rotational torque 21 to the work piece through clamping devices which may comprise a collar 22 provided with a set screw 23. The relatively small-radius bead on rollers 11, 12 and 13 provides intense local pressure in region 24 of the portion 25 of the tube 1 to be worked, causing plastic deformation and consequent thinning down of the thick wall of the tube. The resulttant thin wall portion 17 flows freely away from rollers 11, 12 and 13 and along the mandrel 5 with substantially no loss in volume of material. As a result the length of the thin portion 17 will be extended axially in proportion to the reduction in wall thickness. All three rollers 11, 12 and 13 turn on precision needle bearings 26, as shown particularly in Figures 1 and 2. As illustrated in Figure l, the work part undergoing treatment is a tube blank and it is caused to rotate by a clutch sleeve 28 attached to the mandrel 5 and having teeth 27. In this instance, the mandrel has an outer smooth surface. If the closed end of the section 16 is omitted the resulting product may be used as a cathode support as illustrated in Figures 3 and 7, as hereinafter more fully described.

Universal coupling 31 (Figure 1) transmits to the mandrel 5 both the rotary motion of the shaft 32 and the axial motion of the sleeve 3 and shaft 32 without vibration or eccentricity, so that the mandrel 5 runs true with respect to the rollers 11, 12 and 13. Any other suitable arrangement may be used.

The forming operation combines the advantages of smallradius contact surfaces and high unit pressure of the cluster type rolling machine with the principal advantage of an extrusion process in that the necessary forces are transmitted by the relatively heavy unworked wall of the work piece 1. The rollers 11, 12 and 13 are preferably made of hardened steel carefully formed and polished. It has been found that the hardness of the rollers should measure about 54 Rockwell C while the hardness of the mandrel should measure between 64 and 66 Rockwell C.

With the work piece 1, mandrel 5 and associated parts 26, 31 and 32 all rotating as indicated by the arrow 21 at a speed of about 700 revolutions per minute, feed screw 33 is advanced by means of knurled handle 34. This causes slide 14 and roller 13 to move toward work piece 1 and rollers 1l and 12 and force the beads 15 of rollers 11, 12,` and 13 into the work piece a predetermined depth as set by nut 33 and locknut 36 to form a deep rounded groove in the workpiece 1. This depth is so chosen as to give the desired wall thickness of thinned-down portion 17. Handle 2 is now operated so that the attached gear 4 and associated rack 37 of the drill press exert a downward axial force 19 on work piece 1 through elements 5, 28, 31 and 32. Simultaneously, the friction between the work piece land the mandrel 5 causes them to be driven in unison and provides driving power for the rotating rollers 11, 12 and 13. The axial force 19 `causes the work piece 1 to move slowly downwardly relative to the rollers 11, 12 and 13 which form as an extrusion aperture or die to reduce the thickness of the work piece 1 from the relatively thick unworked portion 25 to the very thin worked portion 17. Each complete revolution of the work piece relative to a particular roller constitutes one cycle of the extrusionscanning process, in which cycle the unworked portion 25 of the work piece is shortened by the distance that the work piece moves axially during that cycle. Successive revolutions of the work piece during the axial movement thereof constitutes repetitive scanning cycles of the process required to widen the initial groove over the desired axial distance along the work piece and thus form the thinned wall portion 17. Due to the combined action of forces 18, 19 and 20 and rotary motion 21, the thinned wall 17 will lengthen out and the original wall 25 will shorten. After a few seconds a suitable length of thinned wall 17 will have been obtained and the axial force 19 is` then removed; the rollers are backed oit; the drill press stopped; and the finished work piece 1 removed from mandrel 5. The finished work piece in this instance, as shown in Figure 4, consists of two end sections 16 and 25 of .O32 inch wall thickness joined integrally by a section 17 of tubing having a very much thinner wall, all three sections having au inside diameter or .312 inch corresponding substantially to the outside diameter of mandrel 5. With reasonable care to secure concentricity of mandrel S and rollers 11, 12 and 13 about the axis of mandrel 5 wall, thicknesses of less than .001 inch are readily obtainable. This corresponds to a reduction of over thirty to one in a single pass. In spite of the foil-like nature of the thinned-down section, the completed part will be relatively rigid and strong mechanically.

Figure 7 shows more in detail the various steps set forth above in describing our process, but enlarged so as to be more clearly understood. The resulting product is modified to the extent that the enclosing end of the end section 16 has been omitted so that the finished product is an open tube having thick end ferrules joined by a relatively reduced, intermediate, thin wall portion, but all three portions have the same internal diameter.

The process just described may be better understood by examining in some detail the behaviour of the metal in the region of plastic ow during the carrying out of the process. g An elemental form of our local extrusion, with emphasis directed to the feature of applying pressure to a limited volume of work material, is illustrated in Figure 6. In this instance the work blank 1 having a small dimensionnormal to the plane of the drawing is supported by a backing member 40 and restrained laterally, except on one side, in `a suitable holder 41 so that pressure developed by a punch 42 is localized to substantially the region 43 and that immediately below the punch. As the punch 42 is forced into the work blank 1, the material of the blank flows out from under punch 42 and pushes region 16 away, to the right in Fig. 6. It should be noted that this moving away of the region 16 takes place much more readily after the punch has progressed an appreciable distance through the thickness of the work blank. In fact, `when `the punch 42 first enters or penetrates the work blank the material of region 16 is momentarily effectively constrained from moving by the tension in the work material located under punch 42, so that a projection orbump 44 is formed, said bump being shown exaggerated for purposes of illustration. As the punch penetrates more deeply into the material, elongation thereof takes place more readily.

From this simple explanation of local extrusion it will be appreciated that the total required force is considerably less than if it were necessary to subject all of the unworked material of a large area blank to the unit pressure required as in the case of conventional extrusion methods.

Applying this elemental principle of local extrusion to the forms of apparatus described heretofore, attention is directed to Figures 7 and 8. The beads 15 of the several rollers 11, 12 and 13 function in the same manner as the punch 42 and exert local pressure upon the small `work region 43. As these rollers progress over the work blank 1, due to rotation of the latter, compressive stresses are built up in region 43 which are sucient to cause plastic flow of the material comprising said region. Because of the thick unworked adjacent portion 25 of the work blank 1, vand the axial attachment thereof to the mandrel 5, restraints are provided which limit the flow of material in the plane of rotation. The effectiveness of these restraints is materially assisted by making the radius of the rollers large compared with the radius of the bead 15. Figure 6 shows in an exaggerated form the corresponding operation performed upon work region 43 therein, except that the punch 42 functions in a manner similar to bead 1S. It should be noted that the geometrical shape of the region 43 is not symmetrical in any way; neither does it progress or appreciably shift position ahead or behind the line 45 (see Figure 8) joining the roller and mandrel axes. That is to say, this asymmetrical region 43 is not a specic portion of work material, but is :actually a geometric volume which progressively moves with the roller through different portions of the work blank during the extrusion-scanning operation. Further, the surface of each roller in contact with the work region 43 is one of the components which constitute an incompletely bounded extrusion-scanning aperture, which is a feature more fully developed elsewhere herein.

From the above analysis, it will be seen that to local extrusion there has been added the important feature of forces continuously progressing over the work, which progression constitutes -a single scanning operation. This results in intensified pressure in a limited region of the work blank, which causes plastic ilow axially out from under the rollers and along the surface of the mandrel 5. Due to the constraining action of the mandrel 5 and the cylindrical portion 46 of each of the rollers 11, 12 and 13, the ow takes place through the extrusion-scanning aperture formed between the outer periphery of each of the rollers and the surface of the mandrel. This flowing action results in a thinning-down and consequent elongation of the tubularwblank. By localizing the extrusion in this way the extruding action does not take place simultaneously @around the circumferential periphery of the blank, but rather is restricted to local portions of the periphery as they successively come under each roller. However, because of the rapid rotation of the blank, these local portions are successively and continuously extruding in close sequence, so that effectively the entire periphery is extruding substantially at one time.

As previously stated, the geometrical shape of the region of the blank subjected to extruding pressure is asymmetrical. It was also noted that this asymmetrical region is not a specific portion of the material, but is actually a geometric volume which progressively moves with the roller through different portions of the material of the blank 1. This relatively small geometric volume is constrained and/or subjected to high concentrated land/or redirected forces on all portions of its boundary surface but one, which acts as the exit oriiice or aperture Sii through which local extrusion takes place. For the purpose of convenience, the work material may be said to have passed through the extrusion-scanning aperture when subsequent scans produce no further working of the particular work volume. In other words, this local asymmetrical geometrical volume and associated aperture may be caused to progressively scan circumferentially and axially through the material of the work blank as contemplated by our process.

As illustrated particularly in Figure 7, this thinning process is accomplished by the outer surface of the blank 1 moving in a rapid principal motion substantially parallel and tangent to surfaces of the blank and the rollers (see arrow 21) and simultaneously at a slower rate in a direction parallel to the `surface of the blank and perpendicular -to this principal motion (see arrow 19). A third force comes into being when the rollers are moved more slowly radially into the work blank 1 by a force (see arrow 20 shown inFigures 8 and 7) which is in addition to and simultaneous withthe above motions. It is also possible to combine all three of the above mutually perpendicular motions simultaneously if desired as long as the scanning path of the asymmetrical geometrical volume is a regular non-repeating path through the work blank.

The scanning path generated in Figs. l-S, 7 and 8 may be said to be essentially helical inform, as shown in Figure 9, with a rather ine pitch 47 due to the relatively high peripheral speed of rotation 48 as compared with the axial speed 49 of advancement of the work. We have found that the pitchshould be suiciently ine as to permit considerable overlapping of the local portions during adjacent scans. The actual pitch used depends upon the kind and thickness of the blank material, the radius of the rollers, the radius of beads formed thereon, and the thickness and surface finish required. However, the pitch between adjacent sections of the scanning path should not be too great.

The construction illustrated in Figure 13 is a modification of our extrusion-scanning process as applied to reducing the wall thickness of either a portion or all of a blank 53 in the form of a flat sheet of ductile material. The apparatus may comprise a car 50, provided with rollers 51 which run in a groove 52. The groove 52 is Vformed in a constraining member 54.

In the arrangement shown,'a rapid reciprocatory motion of the car 50 relative to the blank S3 may be provided by the crank 56 and connectinglrod 57, which motion is the equivalent of the rotational motion of Figs. l-3. The force component 58 is at right angles to said reciprocatory motion, and may be applied bylany suitable external means (not shown). Suitable means, which may be of a conventional form, would be required to slowly move the blank 53 in a third direction parallel to the surface of the blank and perpendicular to both the reciprocatory motion and the force 58. The scanning pattern generated by the rapid kreciprocating motion and the third motion will be zigzag,

and the pitch thereof need not be constant across the width of the scanned area, i. e., it may be coarse followed by a relatively line pitch so as to produce a variable .pitch scanning pattern. In any event, the repetitive scanning cycles should overlap to produce the proper scanning eifect featured by the invention.

From the foregoing, it will be understood by those skilled in the .art that the plastic flow produced by the passage of the geometric volume of material undergoing scanning at a given time will develop a crystal pattern different from anything produced by conventional extrusion methods; further, this pattern will be characteristic of our extrusion-scanning method so that from an examination of microphotographs, especially of the thinner portions of the finished product, it will be possible to identify the process from plastic ow lines or patterns which result from practicing the scanning operation herein disclosed. Therefore, by an examination of the finished product, it can be determined whether or not the product was made by practicing our invention, i. e., by extrusionscanning. This ow pattern will naturally be influenced by the kind of ductile material used, but for a given material .it will be reasonably regular and capable of identification.

Expressing the above somewhat differently, it may be mentioned that it can be established by reference to microphotographs that a wire which has been drawn, possessesy a characteristic fibrous structure developed by the drawing operation. In an analogous manner the crystal pattern developed by our extrusion-scanning can be used to establish or identify the processing of a given work piece by extrusion-scanning, as opposed to employing a conventional extrusion method. That is to say,

our `etxrusion-scanning process develops lan identiable crystal pattern which is characteristic of scanning a 1ocalized volume of the work at a given time, and by following a continuous path, etc. The identifying `characteristics of the crystal pattern developed by our ex trusion-scanning may be attributed to such factors as the spiral formation characteristic of the scanning operation and apparatus employed, the plastic flow resulting from scanning a localized geometric volume which imparts characteristic flow lines individual to the process, etc.

In the present disclosure, we use the term great reduction as applied to the resulting wall thickness of the end product, and we use it in the sense that very substantial elongation of the work blank is obtained by compressive stresses ina single pass.

It is a well known fact in the art of metal drawing that a considerably greater elongation is possiblewithout fracture if the material is subjected to compressive stresses at right angles to the elongating tensile stresses, and we have found that unusually great tensile elongations without fracture may be made to take place in a single pass through our extrusion-scanning apparatus even for moderate reduction of wall thickness. This is true because the region 24 (Figs. 3 and 7) s subjected to such right angle compressive stresses. Furthermore, the forces which we apply are concentrated to a limited geometric volume as said forces scan through the Work blank. Consequently, the total forces required are much lower than would be required by conventional drawing operations for the same reduction. This will be more fully appreciated by reference to Figure 10, which is an enlarged and somewhat modified view of Figure 3, wherein it is more clearly shown that the geometric extrusion volume 43 is not always bounded on the mandrel side by the mandrel surface but may be localized within the metal of the blank between the bead 15 and the mandrel 5. The metal within the geometric volume 43 may ow plastically, while the region 59 of the metal between said volume 43 and the mandrel 5 iscaused to stretch axially in tensile deformation. However, since hydrostatic pressure also exists within the region 59, the tensile elongation characteristic of the metal in thisregion is greatly enhanced with the result that tensile elongations may be achieved which are greatly in excess of those predictable by ordinary tensile characteristics.

lt should not be overlooked that there are two forms of elongation just discussed: 1) where extrusion-scanning takes place as described with respect to Figures 7 and 8, producing extremely great thinning and elongation Without appreciable tensile elongation; and (2) where enhanced tensile elongation and extrusion-scanning are combined as explained with reference to Figure l0.

Although it will be seen thatthe extrusion-scanning aperture `is loosely a partially-bounded portion of the material being worked, the entire periphery thereof is effectively integrated to form a substantially continuous orifice. It will also be noted that the curvature of the work blank where the scanning operation begins (see Figure 7 in particular) is more sloping than the curvature of the edge of the surface adjacent the rollers where the scanning ceases. It is believed the reason for this difference in curvatures will be appreciated from the description contained herein; also, it should be understood that this difference may not be pronounced as illustrated in the enlarged views of the drawings.

By the` nature of our extrusion-scanning process, the required driving forces do not increase inordinately for very thin wall extrusions and, therefore, there is practically no limit of the degree of thinning attainable by our extrusion-scanning process. These required driving forces are always transmitted through the thick unworked portion of the blank, since only a single pass over the work is necessary.` Of course, it should be understood to be impractical for normal operations to use a work blank initially too thin, because of the likelihood of buckling or wrinkling. This should not be regarded as a limitation on the adaptability ofour process for all types of extrusion, but should serve to further distinguish our process from conventional spinning, drawing and axial rolling operations where repeated passes of the Work are necessary for accomplishing great reductions in thickness.

In practicing our invention, in place of the roller system described above for certain types of work, it is possible to use a tool which docs not revolve on its axis. Such a tool has a rounded nose and would simulate a primitive form of tool used in spinning. However, we have found it is preferable that the tool 70 be a roller which turns freely on needle bearings. However, with the simple form of roller 70 shown in Fig. 11, the portion 71 of the work blank 1 axially ahead of the tool is raised up excessively and curled back as the tool advances axially. This is due to lack of the constraining affect on region 43 by the cylindrical shoulder 46 of rollers 11, 12and 13 previously described.

A similar appearing curled back portion `71 is shown exaggerated in Figure 10, but in this case it may be due to excessive compression in region 43 which causes region 43 to extend beyond and ahead of the leading edge of the shoulder 46 of roller 12. This excessive compression is brought about by the fact that tensile forces in region 59 restrict the free llow of material out of extrusion orifice 30.` With the relatively great reductions normally used region 59 vanishes as does the above attendant objectionable curlback.

A form of tool construction more satisfactory than those just described is shown in Figure 12. It will be seen that a rod-like member 65 is provided with a rounded nose positioned symmetrically about axis 66,which nose is in forcible contact with Work blank 1 to form extrusionscanning aperture 30 thereunder. Rotation of the tool may be provided if desired in order to replace sliding friction, `as in the case of a fixed roller by rolling friction, as exemplified in our roller system, and thus facilitate the extruding processes. A hole 66 may be used if desired to supply high pressure lubricant, and/or coolant to the region near aperture 30.

The backing or mandrel member may take a wide variety of forms, and/or shapes as indicated above. The material for the rollers and backing surfaces should preferably be much harder than the material being formed, for obvious reasons. We have found that very hard tool steel suitably ground and polished is satisfactory for cold- Working ordinary metals; Further, the use of precision needle bearings are quite satisfactory for the rollers, so as to enable the same to run true.

Figure 5 illustrates a portion of an electron discharge device having a cathode utilizing as a support `one end product which may be produced by practicing the present invention. The cathode, designated generally by the reference character 60, is of the unipotential type in the form of a cup-shaped member 61 of suitable base material which is indirectly heated by a heater 62. The cath- 0de member 61 is joined to a support 63 which is one end product of the present invention, and which in turn is mounted upon a supporting base 64, which latter may be sealed into a glass member 67. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that the intermediate thin-walled portion of the support 63 functions as a heat isolating means for the cathode 6). This construction is disclosed in a copending application tiled by us May 12.,` 1948, Serial No. 26,696, now abandoned, relating to a novel vacuum tube construction.

It will be appreciated that by our method of extrusion scanning, the scanningpath per se may take other forms. In a form of scanning which is particularly applicable in making articles of cone-shape by the present process, the scanning path takes the form of a at spiral, with the roller or other scanning tool progressing radially outwardly on a rotating iiat blank.

As is apparent from the foregoing description, our process is conservative of the volume of material, and the inside diameter of the work blank may be retained uniform throughout.

It should be understood that it is not necessary that the rollers, if designed to rotate, be driven by friction from the work, but external driving means may be provided to rotate the rollers with or relative to the work being extruded.

Any suitable ductile material may be successfully used with our process, including those metals which are subject to brittle work hardening under severe cold working. We have used copper, nickel, iron, tantalum, molybdenum, and various alloys, such as Kovar and chrome-irons, as the blank material. Other metals, ofcourse, may be used, as well as those plastics or other materials which can be plastically deformed.

While the process as described utilizes round tubular sections over a smooth round mandrel and with external rollers, as an example, it is to be understood that this invention includes the adaptation where one or more rollers are mounted on the inside of the tubular work piece and the backing surface consists of the inside wall of a hard cylinder surrounding the work piece.

Various other modifications of the invention may be made in its application to various types of devices but the ones described and/or suggested may be regarded as illustrative of the scope of the invention which is only limited by the prior art and appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A cold-working process for greatly reducing the thickness of a portion of a relatively thick-walled tubular blank of ductile material in a single pass, comprising the steps of: rigidly supporting the inner surface of said portion of said blank to be worked; simultaneously rapidly rotating said blank about its longitudinal axis and slowly forcing a tool member having a hard rounded working surface into the outer surface of said portion to a predetermined depth to form a relatively deep circumferential groove therein and thereby greatly reduce the thickness thereof; then, while maintaining said tool member at said depth and while continuing said rotation with said tool member in said groove, engaging that `end of said blank that is on the same side of said tool member as said portion to be worked with a work engaging member and creating relative movement axially of said blank by moving one of said members toward the other to rela- 14 tively feed said portion to be worked past said tool member, thereby creating compression in the unworked part of said portion between said tool member and said end of said blank, whereby that part of said blank that is being thinned is allowed to elongate freely away from said tool member without resistance.

2. A cold-working process for greatly reducing the thickness of a portion of a relatively thick-walled t-ubular blank of ductile material in a single pass, comprising the steps of: rigidly supporting the inner surface of said portion of said blank to be worked; simultaneously rapidly rotating said blank about its longitdinal axis and slowly forcing a rolling tool having a hard rounded working surface into the outer surface of said portion to a predetermined depth to form a relatively deep circumferential groove therein and thereby greatly reduce the thickness thereof; then, while maintaining said tool at said depth and while continuing the rotation of said blank with said tool in said groove, pushing on that end of said blank that is on the same side of said tool as said portion to be worked to push said portion to be worked past said tool, thereby creating compression in the unworked part of said portion between said tool and said end of said blank, whereby that part of said blank that is being thinned is allowed to elongate freely away from said tool without resistance.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 11,009 Pratt June 6, 1854 573,873 Harris Dec. 29, 1896 691,540 Gieshoidt Ian. 21, 1902l 1,399,525 Schaad Dec. 6, 1921 1,499,534 Katzenmeyer July 1, 1924 1,798,742 Kellogg Mar. 31, 1931 1,966,713 Flint July 17, 1934 1,984,155 Prochaska Dec. 11, 1934 2,160,975 Matter June 6, 1939 2,262,716 Wolfer Nov. 11, 1941 2,365,197 Kay Dec. 19, 1944 2,368,973 Dewey Feb. 6, 1945 2,522,257 Curtis Sept. 12, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 121,912 Australia Aug. 15, 1946 695,991 Germany Sept. 7, 1940 

